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Case Study Method
Case Study Method
Research method originated in clinical medicine (the case history, i.e. the patients personal history
(idiographic method)
Description of the symptoms, the diagnosis, the treatment and eventual outcome (descriptive
method) but also in newer research explanatory case studies
Uses the persons own memories, the memories of friends and relatives, or records of various
types such as diaries, photographs etc.
Often combines interviews and observations.
In-depth investigation of experiences that allow to identify interactions and influences on
psychological processes
Opens up and explore aspects of human experience that can be investigated using other types of
research methods (qualitative study/inductive research)
The case study method often involves simply observing what happens to, or
reconstructing the case history of a single participant or group of individuals (such
as a school class or a specific social group), i.e. the idiographic approach. Case studies
allow a researcher to investigate a topic in far more detail than might be possible if
they were trying to deal with a large number of research participants (nomothetic
approach) with the aim of averaging.
The case study is not itself a research method, but researchers select methods of data
collection and analysis that will generate material suitable for case studies such as
qualitative techniques (semi-structured interviews, participant observation, diaries),
personal notes (e.g. letters, photographs, notes) or official document (e.g. case notes,
clinical notes, appraisal reports). The data collected can be analysed using different
theories (e.g. grounded theory, interpretative phenomenological analysis, text
interpretation (e.g. thematic coding) etc. All the approaches mentioned here use
preconceived categories in the analysis and they are ideographic in their approach, i.e.
they focus on the individual case without reference to a comparison group.
Intrinsic versus instrumental case studies1
Intrinsic case studies represent nothing but themselves. The cases in intrinsic case
studies are chosen because they are interesting in their own right. The researchers
want to know about them in particular, rather than about a more general problem or
phenomenon.
Instrumental case studies constitute exemplars of a more general phenomenon. They
are selected to provide the researcher with an opportunity to study the phenomenon of
interest. The research question identifies a phenomenon (e.g. stress, bereavement,
fame etc) and the cases are selected in order to explore how the phenomenon exists
within a particular case. In this design, individuals who are experiencing the
phenomenon under investigation are all suitable cases for analysis.
Willig, Carla (2001) Introducing qualitative research in psychology. Buckingham: Open University
Press, page 73 ff.
What is a case?2
A single case doesnt have to mean just one single person. It might be a family, a
social group, or even a single organisation. A case study can involve dealing with
quite a number of individuals, actually. For example, a case study may involve
interviewing staff in a small but growing computer company, on the social
psychological aspects of managing staff (Hayes & Lemon, 1990). This information
could then be used to compare with other larger companies, in terms of how they had
tackled staff management issues at a similar stage in their history. The table below
lists five different types of case, which could be the subject of a case study, ranging
from an in-depth study of a single individual to the study of an organisation or an
event.
Table 1. Types of case study
Person
Group
Location
Organisation
Event
The study of one single individual, generally using several different research
methods.
The study of a single distinctive set of people, such as a family or small group
of friends.
The study of a particular place, and the way that it is used or regarded by
people.
The study of a single organisation or company, and the way that people act
within it.
The study of a particular social or cultural event, and the interpretations of that
event by those participating in it.
Hayes, N. (2000) Doing Psychological Research. Gathering and analysing data. Buckingham: Open
University Press. p. 134.
4. Process-oriented.
a. The case study method enables the researcher to explore and describe the
nature of processes, which occur over time.
b. In contrast to the experimental method, which basically provides a stilled
snapshot of processes, which may be continuing over time like for
example the development of language in children over time.
hardly able to walk. Genie has not achieved food social adjustment or language
despite intervention and being placed in a foster home.
Corkin (1984) H.M. was 27 when brain surgeons removed most of his hippocampus
and part of the amygdala in a last attempt to relieve the patients severe and lifethreatening epilepsy. The operation did achieve its goal, because the seizures were
milder and could be managed with medication. His memory, however, had been
affected dramatically. Although H.M. could recall most of the events that had
occurred before the operation, he could no longer remember new experiences for
much longer than 15 minutes. The declarative memories (i.e. memories of facts and
events) vanished like water down the drain. With sufficient practice, H.M. could
acquire new skills, such as solving a puzzle or playing tennis (this kind of memory is
called procedural memories), but he could not remember learning these skills. Nor
could he learn new words, songs, stories, or faces. H.M.s doctors had to reintroduce
themselves every time they saw him. It seems that H.M.s terrible memory deficits
involve a problem in transferring explicit memories from short-term storage into longterm storage in the first place. He would read the same issue of a magazine over and
over again without realising it. He could not recall the day of the week, the year, or
even his last meal. Today, many years later, H.M. will occasionally recall unusually
emotional evens, such as the assassination of someone named Kennedy. He
sometimes remembers that both his parents are dead, and he knows he has memory
problems. But according to Suzanne Corkin, who has studied H.M. extensively, these
islands of remembering are the exceptions in a vast sea of forgetfulness. He still
does not know the scientists who have studied him for decades. Although he is now in
his seventies, he thinks he is much younger. This good-natured man can no longer
recognise a photograph of his own face; he is stuck in a time warp from the past.
Hayes, N. (2000) Doing Psychological Research. Gathering and analysing data. Buckingham: Open
University Press. p. 133.
various aspects of their lives, and there is always a tendency that people focus on
factors which they find important themselves while they may be unaware of other
possible influences.
4. Not possible to replicate findings. Serious problems in generalising the results of
a unique individual to other people because the findings may not be representative
of any particular population.